Haven
by Ms Starlight
Summary: A time before ponies were all happy and free one young pony finds her way to happiness (sorry about the bizarre spacing!)


Haven   
by: Starlight

*My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro...all the characters belong to me*   
Rating: PG...I don't know, nothing offencive or anything, but it's not exactly Disney-ish either   


Preface   
The world was wild and terribly free. The churning land and tides fairly boiled in their fury. The animals in this time were hard   
with strength and incredibly intelligent. Where muscle and brains fell short magic persevered. It swirled around the world like   
a milky sash. The air was pungent and sweet with it. It filled the water, the sky, and the ground with it's sparkling glory.   
Magic would rain down from the clouds, sticking in the animals' coats like syrup. They began to change as the climate calmed   
under the steady drum of the mystical rain. They twisted and warped, tried to shake off the honeyed rain. Two very distinct   
species emerged: one burly and cruel monsters, the other sleek and beautiful ponies. For centuries the monsters held the   
ponies under their reign, making them slaves. Under the oppression and the sadness they began to loose their magic. Their   
coats ceased to glow and their eyes lost the shimmer of freedom. Until one was born who changed it all...   
  
* * * 

Raptor walked quietly. Her ears strained as they swiveled about in a vain attempt to catch ambient sound. Lungs filled and   
muscles twitching, she was ready to run. Her hooves hurt, they had the scars of shackles. She grimaced with grim foreboding.   
Her heart raced, pounding relentlessly against her ribcage.   
Something strange had happened, something she could not explain. It made her wary as she recalled it. Her masters had   
settled down to eat. It was one of the rare occasions she got to rest without fear prickling its way up her spine. Her green   
mane had hung over her eyes, dirty and without luster. It had been an average day.   
She sat and watched the huge, brown creatures eat, hoping something would be dropped for her. They ripped at their food,   
tearing it violently and throwing it down their gaping maws. The two were her family in an odd sense of the word. She gazed   
up at them, not questioning the fact that they owned her, but accepting it as her life.   
She was an oddity, an ugly, weak animal. They told her that often enough that she knew it was true. She'd never seen   
anything like herself before, in fact, she wasn't even positive what she looked like. It was difficult to get a reliable reflection off   
the dirty dish of water they set down for her once a week.   
Feeling numb, she sat and watched. The shackles didn't bother her, she didn't question them. Her thin white body was a   
dusty gray color. Slumped, she lifted a hoof to inspect it. Something deep inside her had stirred, but the thought was thrown   
away as a large, bloody hunk of meat fell on her. It splattered on her face, sending a slimy red spray across her muzzle.   
Flinching, she waited for one of her masters to retrieve it.   
"Hold that for me," one of them boomed in a loud laughing manner. She did as she was told, holding the cold piece of flesh in   
her hooves. She waited, not moving.   
It came swiftly. The larger of her masters bit it out from between her hooves, snapping his teeth together with a crunching   
sound. He threw back his head upon his muscular neck and swallowed it, his large teeth protruding from his lips in sharp   
ivory glory. This wasn't completely uncommon. Raptor's face was filthy from the chores she had, most of them less then   
glamorous.   
She hardly noticed as the day began to slowly dwindle by. She'd long since come to appreciate the simplest of things in life.   
If she got a meal, it was a good day. It was this simplistic view that she supposed made her so shocked at what they day   
held.   
The smaller of her masters, she'd always assumed it was a female but it was difficult to tell, doubled over suddenly. She   
ground out a long, agonized roar. Raptor had watched with idol curiosity as her burly muscles twisted underneath her flesh. It   
was a strange site. Her yellow eyes rolled back in her head as she slowly collapsed onto the ground.   
The male didn't seem overly concerned until the same mysterious force hit him himself. The scene repeated itself, and Raptor   
stood not knowing what to do. She had been born into slavery, had lived under its fist all of her life. Now that her masters lay   
writhing before her, she was unsure what to do.   
From the mouth of the cave she lived in, her ears detected a soft tinkling sound. Her head turned quickly, wary of being   
struck down by the same thing that still ground painful roars out of the couple. What she saw struck her dumb.   
Sparkling and beautiful, she walked in. Her coat was a soft, shiny yellow. Her mane and tail hung in long lustrous magenta   
waves. Everything about her seemed incredibly magical. She was a site that moved Raptor on an incredibly deep level.   
"Leave this place," she commanded, her voice gentle. "Don't come back, run. Avoid caves, hide at night. I will find you." The   
strange creature explained no more, but released Raptor from her bindings and began to walk out. Dumbfounded, Raptor   
cast a gaze at her masters, unsure of leaving them. Even as she thought about it, the other beautiful animal invaded her mind.   
She was similar to Raptor herself in many ways, only not ugly and drab.   
Turning hesitantly, Raptor walked toward the sunshine. The day was warm and made shivers race up her spine. She had   
begun to run, despite the pain in her legs. She kept moving through the rest of the day, all the while wary that she could be   
hunted down at any moment. Now, she found herself deep in the speckled woods. The world was quite large, and she felt   
swallowed up by it.   
She refused to let the tears slip. In all of her life, she had never cried. She refused to let it come at a time so silly as the one   
she found herself in. Stopping for a moment, she looked around at the trees and shrubs. Everything looked the same. Sighing,   
she sat down in the leaves.   
She licked gingerly at the raw bands running across her legs just above her hooves. She didn't feel the pain, she never had. It   
was only now that the shackles were gone that she was even aware of the fact that they had rubbed off her hide. Grimacing,   
she gazed down at herself, comparing herself to the mysterious beautiful vision that had visited her.   
The most notable difference was their color. Raptor was dull with dirt and wear. She didn't sparkle like the other pony did,   
wasn't capable of it. She was the color of oppression; no luster lived in her any longer. Raptor was also thin. Her ribs were   
highlights of her body, protruding out from her abdomen. A few of them were slightly crooked from being broken and then   
healing wrong in the past. The other pony hadn't been like that at all; she'd been lean, but healthy.   
Standing and shaking herself off, Raptor continued on through the forest. Fear still pricked at the back of her neck, but it had   
diminished somewhat. She walked on until she came to a small reflecting pool. The top of the water was smooth as glass.   
Curiously, she dipped a hoof in it, sending ripples spiraling through the water. She smiled at her reflection, noted the way her   
face refused to warm to the alien emotion she was feeling. She tilted her head in wonderment. As the water calmed and   
became smooth, she became aware of someone standing across from her.   
She started violently, backpedaling away from the pool with force.   
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the pony said softly. He tilted his head at her. He wasn't beautiful like the one that   
had released Raptor from her life of slavery. He was much more like her. His mane was tattered and knotted. She spied the   
telltale scars on his legs from bindings. Looking up at him warily, she weighed her decisions.   
"Who are you?" she asked.   
"Drake, and you?" he asked. He had a friendly manner, one that calmed Raptor's nerves.   
"Raptor."   
"I'm surprised to see another pony," he admitted, lowering himself down beside the pool. "I haven't seen another pony since   
my sister died a few months ago."   
"You're like me?" Raptor asked, taking a few steps closer. She'd never seen anything like herself. Faded memories haunted   
her at times, but she never had anything solid.   
"If you mean that we're both ponies, yeah," he shrugged.   
"I've never seen another pony," she admitted, walking all the way up to the pool. He dangled a hoof in the water, bathing his   
scars. His mane and tail were purple laced with crimson. The rest of his body was pale green, a combination that was slightly   
fascinating to Raptor.   
"You were a slave?" Drake inquired, nodding toward her matching wounds.   
"Yes, you were too?" she turned the question around. He nodded.   
"Perhaps we should travel together," he suggested. "I don't know about you, but I don't like being out here alone." Raptor   
smiled, liking this new pony.   
"I would like that," she answered meekly. She wasn't accustomed to conversation, it made her nervous, but she was finding   
it enjoyable.   
"It helps take the pain away if you rest your hooves in the water for a while," he told her as he noticed her flinching as she   
walked. Taking him up on the advice, Raptor settled in beside the water, her hooves dangling in. It lapped softly against her,   
soothing her pain and her broken spirit. Feeling comforted in its embrace, she got heavy with sleep. Drake sat himself down   
next to her, and within minutes, Raptor was asleep.   
She woke with a start sometime later when her acute senses detected a presence near her. She and Drake both jerked up at   
the same time, plunging back into the brush behind them. They'd lived lives where sleep was a tumultuous thing to long to   
readily break their habits.   
"It's alright," a soft voice rang out like a bell as Raptor and Drake bumped into each other, dizzy with fear. Raptor could hear   
her breathing coming in shallow, raspy gasps. Her heart beat against her ribs.   
"Raptor," Drake grabbed at her, holding her still. Her head was still spinning when she saw what he was looking at.   
It was her!   
Her velvety yellow hide was familiar and comforting. She looked at the two with sparkling, green eyes.   
"I'm sorry," she fairly sang. "I didn't mean to scare you." Reluctantly, Raptor and Drake climbed out of the shrubbery. They   
were a sad site at best. Their bodies were beaten and well worn. Their spirits were suppressed, binded, and pushed into   
submission. It showed in their masked eyes. They had no glimmer, no sense of hope, only an ominous fear and distrust.   
"Who are you?" Drake asked. He made Raptor feel stronger somehow. He was like her, not different like this other pony.   
"My name is Mistic," she smiled. "My mother was a slave like the two of you, but I was born free."   
"Born free?" Raptor asked, confused.   
"Yes," Mistic lowered her head somewhat; gazing at Raptor as if what she meant was obvious. Again the shadow memory   
haunted Raptor's mind for a fleeting moment. What was it? She didn't know.   
"Why did you release me?" Drake inquired.   
"I'm taking the two of you with me to a land without the monsters that held you captive," she announces loftily. "I've already   
released some other slaves and they seem to be quite happy there. No pony should have to be servant to those creatures."   
She gazed pointedly at Raptor. She flushed as she became aware of the thick array of wounds she possessed.   
"We can be free?" Drake asked, looking down at Raptor for a moment. She half hid behind him, not as much intimidated as   
embarrassed. In fact, she was angry. There was an unexplainable rage filling her. She looked at her twisted bones with fury.   
"Yes," Mistic glowed with a sudden joy. "Please, come with me. I promise you, you don't have to be slave to anyone."   
"Alright," Drake nodded, he nudged Raptor out from behind him. He bore fewer scars then she, but both were in bad shape   
compared to Mistic. She was pristine, fresh as newly fallen snow.   
"Are you sure we will fit in?" Raptor asked, having been told she was ugly too many times to assume anyone would accept   
her without question.   
"Positive," Mistic smiled. Drake smiled, and Raptor knew she had no choice. If she stayed in the forest, she would die.   
Either her masters would find her, or the elements would wreak havoc on her abused body.   
"Let's go," she said with sudden determination. The idea of freedom was an intoxicating one. Her voice was steely,   
portrayed no emotion other then a hard, grinding persistence.   
"Follow me," Mistic turned and moved toward the reflecting pool. She stopped in front of it, dipped her hooves into the   
water. She closed her eyes, and she seemed to shimmer like gold. Her hooves jerked upward, throwing water into the air   
where it clung and began to converge. The droplets came together, forming a curtain of hazy mist, which slowly took on   
different hues.   
The rainbow colors swirled across the mist in a seemingly random pattern. Mistic opened her eyes and smiled. She walked   
into the wall of mist, and disappeared beyond it.   
Drake and Raptor gave each other puzzled looks, and then hesitantly followed.   
The mist wall surrounded Raptor like a blanket. It wrapped around her body, clung in her hair. She could smell it, and it   
tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. It was bright, she closed her eyes.   
When she opened them, she was shocked. The landscape that surrounded her was foreign. There were no trees; it was a   
beautiful green meadow. Drake stood beside her, wet and just as shocked as she.   
"Where are we?" he asked in awe.   
"You're over the rainbow," Mistic shook herself off near them. "A much happier place then the other side."   
"It's beautiful," Raptor murmured.   
"You like it?" Mistic asked, clearly pleased with herself.   
"Very much," Raptor admitted. Drake walked away from her to look around. He had, on his flank, the head of a fierce   
dragon. Raptor had never noticed it before. She looked to her own flank, noticed the strange marking she too had. She was   
puzzled for a moment at why she had never noticed it.   
"Are you hungry?" Mistic asked.   
"Yes," they both answered at the same time.   
"There are apples on the tree over there," she motioned toward a lone tree. On it hung luscious, red fruit. Raptor and Drake   
both ran toward it in an awkward, limping gate, one that was disturbing to watch. They ate ravenously, each eating four   
apples before saying anything more.   
"You've both been slaves your entire lives?" Mistic asked, frowning.   
"Yes," Raptor nodded.   
"You were treated poorly," she sounded sad. She sat beside her, running a yellow hoof over Raptors old scars. She paused   
at her ribs, made note of the various deformities that plagued them. She then turned her attention to Drake. He too had been   
treated with unrestrained violence. His back leg was tilted inward at an odd angle from being broken. He had a long, jagged   
scar above his eye from being hit, another on his front leg from being bit.   
Something about his dusty injuries sparked fury in Raptor. It made her vision blurry, and for a moment she feared it would   
overtake her completely.   
"We'll have the two of you fixed up in no time," Mistic grinned. As if on command, two more strangely glamorous ponies   
entered into the meadow. The first, slightly smaller then Raptor in build, was a gentle lavender with glossy blue hair that   
mirrored the sky. Through the middle of her sky hair was a deep, earthy green. Protruding from her forehead was a single   
horn, which made her all the more fascinating.   
Her eyes came to rest on Raptor and something akin to deep sorrow. Unnerved by it, she turned her attention to the pony   
flanking her.   
He was formidable looking, but somehow Raptor felt inclined to trust him. His body a rich gold, and his hair fiery crimson,   
he fairly glowed in the dewy sunlight.   
"Raptor, Drake," Mistic smiled in welcome of her charges. "I would like to introduce you to Cascade and Slinger."   
Cascade bowed her head in greeting. Slinger and Drake exchanged friendly glances. It was a moment that told Raptor   
everything would be all right. She relished in it.   
"Come with me," Cascade offered her lilac hoof, pristine and gossamer, to Raptor. She stood to follow the pony, but   
refused to touch her. She felt unworthy. Slinger and Drake repeated much the same routine, and they were both lead off in   
the same direction. Raptor took the short trip as a chance to further study the two new ponies. Cascade had, on her flank,   
the glimmering picture of a jumping fish. Raptor could almost see the water shimmer off it's glossy scales.   
Slinger's symbol was somewhat more nebulous. It was a strange representation she didn't fully understand. She felt positive,   
however, that is was somehow symbolic of a great kind of power.   
Cascade and Slinger led them to a large lake, where more ponies were waiting. These too had the same quality to them. It   
threatened to overwhelm her senses as she gazed at them. There were ten all together, seven of which were female.   
The females flocked around Raptor, ushering her over toward the water. Nervously, she cast a glance back at Drake, who   
was being maneuvered toward the opposite side of the lake.   
They worked as a team, washing the dirt and blood out of Raptor's mane and off her body. They scrubbed her green hair   
clean, then worked out all of the tangles. Still, she did not have the same luminous characteristics they all had. Gradually, they   
began to depart as their jobs were finished. Finally, Raptor was left in the presence of only one.   
She was pure white. Her hair was splashed with the colors of the rainbow. On her forehead rested a delicate crescent moon.   
Raptor felt somehow that she could place all of her trust in this pony without reservation.   
"My name is Luna," she introduced herself.   
"I'm Raptor."   
"It's nice to meet you, Raptor," Luna smiled, her violet eyes shining. "I imagine you're probably very curious about all of this."   
"Yes," Raptor admitted.   
"We were all slaves once too, exactly like you," Luna explained. "Except Mistic, she was born free. She released all of us,   
and brought us here. Here, our wounds have healed and we've regained the magic all of us once had before the oppression   
of slavery drove it away."   
"My scars will heal?" Raptor asked.   
"Yes," Luna grinned. "I was in no better shape then you when I arrived. It's the magic. We weren't meant to be abused this   
way. The magic heals us, mends the physical wrongs of the past."   
"How do I get this magic?" Raptor asked, eager to see herself as beautiful as these other ponies.   
"Wait for it to rain," Luna laughed. It was a tinkling sound, not particularly aimed at anything, but simply chiming through the   
air. Raptor slumped down into the grass, her head hanging a bit. She was a bit overwhelmed. Everything had changed so   
completely in a very short amount of time, it boggled her mind.   
"What happens when it rains?" she asked, tired.   
"You get the magic," Luna replied, her voice comforting Raptor's frazzled nerves. She looked up to see Drake wandering   
over. At his side strode another male pony. This one was not Slinger, but someone new.   
"You look better," he commented, his deep aqua eyes content. Raptor inspected Drake, thinking the same of him. The dirt   
had been scrubbed out of his hair, allowing it to glisten with cleanliness, if not magic.   
"So do you," she smiled.   
The other male pony nodded to Luna, beckoning her away.   
"We'll leave the two of you here for a while, give you some time to adjust," he announced. "If for any reason you need us,   
we're right beyond those trees." He and Luna walked away, leaving Raptor and Drake in an uncomfortable silence.   
"Do you believe this?" he asked suddenly.   
"What?"   
"That the rain can heal us," he replied. "That here we are free and this place still holds hope."   
"I don't know," Raptor admitted. "There's no harm in waiting for the rain. When it comes, we'll know."   
"I suppose your right," his gaze shifted across the lake. He seemed preoccupied, and Raptor felt herself wondering what   
thoughts were crossing his troubled mind.   
"You know," Raptor felt she needed to break the silence. "I never dreamed there was anything beyond that cave. It never   
occurred to me that there was a whole world waiting. Certainly I never imagined anything like this. I didn't realize there was   
anything else like me."   
Drake turned to look at her, searched her eyes.   
"My mother was killed trying to escape," he confessed. "My sister, she died from...well, actually I'm not sure what she died   
from. I knew I was missing something, although this never crossed my mind."   
"I'm glad your here," Raptor smiled. Indeed, she needed the strength of another. She was sure that had she had to make the   
journey alone she would never have left the small reflecting pool. She would have died there, unsure where to go or how to   
think. She drew comfort simply from knowing that for the first time in her life, she wasn't alone.   
They slept beside the lake, lavishly sprawled out under the stars in an abandon they had never before indulged in. The night   
embraced them in its warmth, and neither of them noticed when storm clouds blotted out the silvery moonlight.   
The rain fell on them. It was warm, honeyed with the purest magic. Clinging to them like dew, it began its mystical   
transformation. Imbedding into their bodies and souls, it wound a powerful spell.   
Raptor woke feeling well rested. She rolled over, lifted her head, and smacked lightly. Drake was still an unmoving presence   
and she didn't even bother to look at him before wandering over to the water for a drink. She knelt down, drank thirstily. It   
slid down her throat, cool and utterly refreshing.   
She paused for a moment, opening her eyes. The water smoothed, showing her reflection. For a moment she thought she   
would choke. She backpedaled away, not believing what she saw.   
Lifting her hooves, she stared in awe. They were a glimmering, gossamer ivory. Her mane fell before her eyes, the color of   
fresh grass adorned with morning dew. Gasping, and struggling to hold back tears, she spun around to look at Drake.   
She found him staring at her, his eyes wide.   
She stared back at him in much the same way. He shimmered, looked incredibly strong and gallant.   
"It...we..." she stuttered. Suddenly, he lifted off the ground as if by some amazing force. He galloped to her, his gait no longer   
pained. He grabbed her hooves in his own and spun her around, joy pouring from his eyes.   
"Raptor! Look at us," he choked out. Raptor was shocked to find that tears were slipping down her nose. It was the   
happiest moment of her life.   
"No more scars," Raptor hugged her companion. "No more violence. No more fear." The haunting shadow of her masters   
slipped slowly away. She still could see them in her mind's eye, but it no longer made her bristle with uncontrollable terror.   
The nightmares were slipping behind her control.   
"We ponies were not meant to be treated in such a way," a female voice rang out from behind them. Raptor and Drake   
stumbled to a stop in their celebratory dance to stare at Mistic. She walked elegantly toward them.   
"Welcome to our world," she smiled. "The one we were meant to have. Here we spread only joy."   
Raptor smiled, understanding.   
"We are a new beginning," Mistic pronounced. "Your spirits, so long chained and beaten are now free. We will liberate all of   
the ponies someday, and this place across the rainbow will be a haven for all."   
It was a beautiful dream, one Raptor decided at that moment to devote herself to. Drake nudged her and smiled as Mistic   
walked away, her speech done.   
"We're free, Raptor," he grinned. "And someday, all ponies will be. Can you imagine the sheer wonderousness of it?"   
Shadows moved through her mind, images of a time to come, and she was happy. 


End file.
